In July we introduced the new Cáreo, which sold out in no time. These are the benchmark reds from Verónica Ortega, our winemaker with one of the most impressive résumés in Spain — from Romanée-Conti to Raúl Pérez and everything in between.
For me, she makes the finest white wines in Bierzo.
But not only that:
In 2023, she surpassed herself — also in red!
Read what Gutiérrez writes for R. Parker:
“the 2023’s are the finest collection of wines she has produced so far. This goes straight to the top of the hierarchy – not only within her range but in the whole Bierzo”.
Quite the statement indeed!
And now her most elegant and ethereal cru has arrived:
Cobrana 2023.
A true “Grand Cru”, sourced from a century-old vineyard, with a little over 75% Mencía, complemented by other varieties — mostly white — such as Palomino, Doña Blanca, Estaladiña, Alicante Bouschet and Godello.
Beautifully fine, elegant wine!
Cobrana always contains 25% white grapes in its blend, which makes it the most delicate wine in the range.
R. Parker: 96+/100
The 2023 Cobrana feels more serious and complete, keeping an ethereal side but with more depth and a little earthier this year. It comes from different vineyards in the village of Congosto at some 750 meters above sea level on degraded blue slate and red clay soils, one of the last zones of Bierzo to ripen. The full clusters of all the varieties fermented in a 6,100-liter open-top oak vat with a long maceration but a soft extraction and matured in 300-liter barrels (now that she has more space, she's moving toward 500-liter barrels) and 1,500-liter amphorae for 14 months. It has 13.5% alcohol, denoting a complete cycle and good ripeness, which means full development of aromas and flavors. The wine has more depth, with tannins and layers. It's polished and elegant but with more clout.
Together with the Cobrana 2023, her very first creation has also arrived: “ROC”. This was the first wine she ever made under her own name, from a small vineyard in Valtuille. It is still made the same way: whole-cluster fermentation from old vineyards (+100 years) in a large 5,000 L foudre. This is without doubt her red with the greatest ageing potential.
And this ROC 2022 has scored an impressive 95/100!
R. Parker: 95/100
The serious and slightly more reticent 2022 ROC was very recently bottled and needed a little more time in the glass to open up. This is the first wine she ever produced in Bierzo in 2010, and it has kept the elegant profile through the years. In the very warm 2022 vintage, she picked the grapes on September 2 and, thus, managed to keep contained ripeness and alcohol (13.3%). It fermenting with full clusters in large oak vats and aged in 228-liter oak barrels for 16 months.It's textured and juicy, with very fine tannins, a rounder mouthfeel and great purity of flavours.